E3 2011 Preview: Dead Island

http://www.atomicgamer.com/articles/1266/e3-2011-preview-dead-island We've only seen a few glimpses of how the whole game is structured from beginning to end, but with word that you can use a vehicle to travel around, this sounds like it'll be more than just a cooperative game where you drop back to the lobby after finishing a "level". There's an ongoing adventure here between the game's four characters, each with their own specialties, talent trees, and personalities. I get the feeling that the success of Dead Island could rely a lot on how that all works when four random people get into a game together; does each player have their own persistent characters? Can there be two versions of Sam B in the same session together? Can you take weapons and levels from one multiplayer session into the next?